SNOW!!

I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen it for myself; almost 8 inches of snow in eastern North Carolina. This is the best picture from the day, at least the best picture of the two of us (thanks Jess!). I had Collin completely bundled up for our trek in the snow, though I'm not sure he appreciated it or that it helped. Keep in mind my two-year-old's legs are only about a foot long and I did say the snow was almost 8 inches deep. If you do the math you can only imagine the amount of icy coldness going up his pant leg each time he took a step. Then there was the subsequent fall with each step because he couldn't walk in the snow. It made for great entertainment for his mom, but not so much fun for him. Since we live in eastern North Carolina and it only snows about once a year he doesn't own snow boots. He doesn't even own rain boots. At his age if it's raining I carry him, his little legs just can't move that fast.
He was able to enjoy some of the morning riding on a boogie board, attempting to throw a couple of snowballs and sliding down a snow covered slide. That was about all he could handle before nap time. For some reason little children don't enjoy the snow nearly as much as their parents want them to. It seems we remember the excitement of snow from when we were about 6 and forget that at 2 it just doesn't hold the same mystique. To a two-year-old it's just cold, wet and hard to walk through. So, needless to say "good" pictures from our snow day morning are hard to come by.

Then, after we got home from a great day playing with friends, the sun was setting and Collin had no extra clothing on he decided to run and play in the snow. No one else around but me, no heavy jackets and he's ready to pose for pictures so we did. I think he did it on purpose. Just to clarify he did not spend an extensive amount of time in the snow with this little clothing on :) But it was the most fun he had in the snow.
To our friends who also got snow we hope you enjoyed it. To our friends who have been shoveling snow for weeks now we hope you are warm and still able to see some of the beauty, mystique and excitement of freshly fallen snow.

Never too Old for a Pajama Party

The pajama party is still wonderful, even when you're an "adult." The basics don't really change, no matter how old you are. Everyone shows up in crazy pajamas, junk food abounds, and giggling laughter fills the air. However, as you age the parties don't tend to last all night (it is way too expensive to hire an overnight babysitter), the pajamas seem to cover more and the comments that send giggles soaring are a little different than before :). This pajama party was no different. We had a wonderful time laughing our way through the evening as we enjoyed fondue and each other's company. Then, to top it all off the snow started to fall. So, as crazy girls at a pajama party will do, out into the snow we go in nothing but our PJs.

21 Kids and Counting

No, that is not my new philosophy on growing families, however it is the number of children that were at my house for the Super Bowl last Sunday. Oh my goodness! You cannot believe the deafening silence that fell when everyone left. Believe it or not, it was a blast though. All 21 children played wonderfully together. The older boys created their own entertainment with their DS Systems and the younger kids spent the evening playing upstairs and then downstairs, and then upstairs, and then downstairs. We had knights sword fighting, architects working on the latest skyscrapers, civil engineers designing roadways, mommies going shopping and taking care of little ones, there were artists coloring the most beautiful pictures and even making some origami. It was a wonderful night, though I think most hard core super bowlers would have been very disappointed in the fact that no one watched the game. The real moms thoroughly enjoyed an evening of adult conversation to the soundtrack of the laughter of our children, played out in front of a spread of all that is unhealthy and yummy. While it didn't bother us to have not seen one play, we do know who won the game - Way to go Saints!!!